DR. WHO copyright BBC TV. The DALEKS copyrightBBC TV and The Estate of TERRY NATION

A friend very kindly gave me the new DOCTOR WHO

DVD, The POWER Of The DALEKS recently. The master

tapes were wiped in the '60s & '70s, but the soundtrack to each
episode somehow survived. Cue some bright spark suggesting
utilising animation to resurrect the episodes for modern-day
viewing. Great idea, woeful execution, alas.

Sadly, the animation isn't much better than an episode
of CAPTAIN PUGWASH. So far I've watched the special

features disc and the first episode of the actual serial, but the

BBC should really have put more money into the project as

it's painfully obvious that it was produced on an extremely

limited budget. So just what's wrong with it?

What isn't? The accompanying booklet is riddled with
typos that render some sentences gibberish, and, on screen,
there's no consistency between the sizes of POLLY and BEN.
Sometimes Ben is taller than Polly, sometimes it's the other way
around, and sometimes they're both the same size. You can ac-
tually see through the DOCTOR's coat to his shirt and braces
underneath, and in one scene his left hand is several times
the size of his right and can be seen through his body.

The animation is basic and jerky, the backgrounds
static, with characters often facing in the wrong direction
to what's supposed to be occurring the other way. The ani-
mation in SCOOBY DOO is better, so that should give you
all an idea of just how bad it is. In one scene, the Doctor and
his two companions are being kept in a room, and Ben and
Polly are seen in"suitable clothing" - which hasn't yet
been given to them at that point in the story.

Anyway, I'll persevere with the remaining episodes
when my masochistic tendencies kick in again, but I may
just book an appointment with the dentist instead. Not quite
one to avoid, because the documentary on the making of the
programme is interesting, but don't expect PIXAR quality
animation or you're bound to be disappointed. Marks?
Only four out of ten, sadly. Should've been better.

The manageress was in that day observing proceed-
ings, so I was quite prepared to make up the £6 discount
out of my own pocket simply to do the womana good turn.
She looked taken aback, and grudgingly started to reach for
her purse. Noticing her scowl, I asked "What's up, Margaret?You don't look too happy." "I think you've got a cheek askingfor that" she responded. It was my turn to be taken aback."Well, considering the fact I'm letting you off with nearly six quid, I don't understand your attitude. Remember, we're running a business here, not a charity!"

Anyway, she paid up and left, but the experience left

a bad taste in my mouth. Had she expected me to do it for

nothing merely because we were acquainted? If I'd worked inAsda, would she have expected me to wave her through the
checkout with a box of biscuits without charging her? Who
goes into a shop looking for goods or services without ex-
pecting to pay? I'm still staggered by her attitude.

So do I! In fact, 33 years ago, after my family had moved
to a new house in another neighbourhood, I'd sometimes pass my
former domicile on dark nights and trying to recapture that feeling,
as I hadn't lived long enough in our new residence to have re-created
the experience. I'd see the light emanating from my previous home
and imagine for a moment that I still lived there. Then the moment
would pass and I'd set course for my new abode some distance
away, warmed and fortified by memories of earlier times.

Nowadays, I reminisce fondly about that magical expe-
rience whenever I pass one of my former homes on a dusky
evening, and as I've said elsewhere before, I sometimes feel that
I could wander up the path of any of my previous houses, put my
key in the lock, and walk in to find everything just as it used to be.
You'll find that it doesn't matter how much you enjoy going out,
holidaying abroad, or travelling the world - nothing compares
to that sudden electric thrill of recognition on catching that
first sight of home and hearth when you return.

held in aid of the 8th Scout Troop in the 'old hall' in the
grounds of the Old Parish Church.

This and subsequent images copyright MARVEL COMICS

I'd previously purchased The MIGHTY WORLD OfMARVEL #2 earlier that morning, and, later, SUPERMAN#251 en route to the village. Now, in the kind of hall that spoke

of a long-vanished age - anything from the '20s to the '50s - I was to

add MARVEL SUPER-HEROES #1 and TERRIFIC #1 to my awe-

some acquisitions. The previous owner seemed to have used the issue

of MSH as a dartboard at some point, but it was still readable, and it
was probably the first time I'd owned a complete copy of that par-
ticular Terrific, a weekly which had been launched five years
earlier and graced the shelves for a mere 43 issues.

Looking for a place to pore over my comics as I left
the jumble sale, I wandered around to the back of an adjacent,
nigh-derelict building which adjoined the local, centuries old public
house next to the church (and overlooked the graveyard). It was an
inquisitive boy's delight, and a week or so later, under the dark velvet
canvas of the star-kissed heavens, myself and a friend were crawling
across the roof of the pub, and even using the exterior, cast-iron fire-
escape staircase to gain access to the back 'courtyard' below. This
location became the source of surreptitious exploration every so
often over a period of two or three years and holds many
happy memories for me.

So, I can't look at any one cover without also thinking

of the other three - or of that jumble sale, my cord jacket, and an
old pub next to the final resting place of long-gone local 'worthies',
who had doubtless quaffed many a flagon of ale centuries before in

the very building over whose slates two teenage boys daringly

defied death in the airy Autumn moonlight.

******

Interestingly, I occasionally visit the upstairs lounge bar for a
soft drink and a bag of crisps, and have done for many a year now.
It's an odd sensation to think, while sitting there, that I'm under the
very roof I once crawled over as a 14 year old lad so very long ago.
I sometimes wonder if any modern-day counterparts of me and my
pals have ever retraced our footsteps (and handprints) in the years
since we first braved the slates, but it's unlikely. The building at
the back of the pub is now residential and access to the roof
can no longer be obtained through its grounds.

STUDIO 77

Illustrator, cartoonist & calligraphic artist

About the artist:

From 1985 to 2000 A.D. (little joke there), I contributed to a variety of high profile comics and magazines for various companies.

For IPC/FLEETWAY/EGMONT, I freelanced as a lettering and logo artiston various weekly comics and monthly magazines, and also as a resize comic artistandspot illustratoron pocket books, summer specials and annuals.

ForMARVEL U.K., BLACK LIBRARY, REDAN and USBORNE BOOKS, I again freelanced as a lettering artist, also working as arestoration artistfor MARVEL U.S., restoring and recreating certain pages of JACK KIRBY art for their MARVEL MASTERWORKS editions.

I also lettered the MARVELMAN sample pages submitted to MARVEL U.S. when they were considering acquiring the character, which - as we all now know - they DID.

Supplied comic strips, cartoons and illustrated advertisements for local business campaigns and newspaper publication on a professional basis since the age of 16. Did my first paid art job for publication at 14 or 15 for Lanarkshire Education Board.

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